Opal Necklace
by nightDREAMERms
Summary: She tracked the noise until she reached a large green ledge. Here where the whip's snaps were the loudest. Using a swimming motion, Sakura created a headsized peak hole in the overgrown bush. She was certain her heart skipped a beat. .:ItaSaku:.


NightDREAMERms: I really… don't know what this is. I might not even publish it.

It just came to me. So here it goes! Oh and it may seem certain people are out of character but according to my stories circumstances and the ages of the people there, they're really not. (Plus, I tweaked a few of the ages as well) Dang, this turned out to be A LOT longer than I had originally planned!

EDIT: I'm sorry, but some mistkaes really irked me when rereading this story... for the first time... after uploading it... So I'm fixing them. Well most of them at least, I'm sure I'll miss a few others.

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"talking"

'thinking'

And all the normal stuff about italics, capitalization, and bold words.

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Opal Necklace:

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The sky above was gray. Not dark silver, not clouded sapphire nor off-white; gray.

One infant lay face-up upon light lavender sheets. Her small face was scrunched up into a premature scowl as her arms and legs flailed below her. As she squirmed back and forth, pink rose tuffs centered at the top of her head became tangled as it rubbed against a cashmere pillowcase. She let out a small high-pitched whine and moved a full four inches to the left.

The kneeling hooded old man sent a knowing look to the regally dressed man standing behind him. His emerald eyes narrowed as he nodded an affirmation to continue the sacred process. Bony fingers reached out and quickly yet shakily snatched the silvery metal off the bed, the baby having knocked it off it's own neck with it's antics. Slowly and carefully he un-roped a hand-sized midnight-blue velvet sack. He dipped a spotted yellow-tarnished hand into the bag bringing up a golden thread moments afterward. Using precise caution, he lifted the long string until it was fully out, and hovered above the baby's now tranquil face lowering it until it made contact her mid-throat.

At first the infant's face wrinkled and her nose jiggled as if she were about to cry out, but after realizing that the metal on her was not the same as before her body un-stiffened and relaxed pacified into her make-shift crib.

A maid, blonde hair poking out from the underside of her bonnet, watching the proceedings gasped then shocked that she had uttered a sound clasped both hands over her traitorous lips. However to her fortune, no one noticed her interruption as the elder hobbled to a standing position.

"Alas!" He proclaimed in a echoing voice one would not expect from one so old and feeble. "The child only recognizes the metallurgy of a true royal. We have found our new heir." His voice cracked in the last sentence but it did not denounce the statement in the slightest.

Only the first pitter-patter of raindrops and respective silence met his announcement and the old man straightened to nod to all the occupants of the room; bowing to the wealthily garbed couple at his back. The same regally dressed man as before inclined his head in a quiet dismissal which was for him as well as the others in the room, besides his immediate family consisting of only two others. As soon as the door slid shut with an audible tap, the tall man's omni-composure left as his shoulders slumped a ragged relieved sigh was released. The ruby-tressed woman's to his left, on the other hand, position did not alter as she gazed out a grass-green stained window.

He walked over to his daughter, now sleeping peacefully, and removed the necklace from her body, unclasping then relapsing it around her necklace instead. 'As it should be.'

His fingers grazed over the soft pink curls on her cranium. "Have you decided upon a name yet." he inquired aloud.

More silence reigned.

"Sakura." The wife and mother said finally her eyes still locked outside as strong gales of wind accompanied by inconsistent waves of water whipped through everything it could. In the field before her, the normally arrogantly vertical grasses bent over and cowered at the smallest bit of pressure. The palm trees to the far right court were most obviously losing their stance, though trying to show-off by merely bending over at an angle and keeping the first few feet of their base straight. The ancient oaks across from them indignantly held their places rooted to the ground, refusing to move even an inch for the rapid air. Then there were the cherry blossoms; they had always caught her eye. Only the cherry blossoms did not view the wind, the change, as a threat, instead of struggling to compete with the wind; it played with it; Allowing it's peach petals to flow and dance along beautifully with the unseen force.

"Sakura Haruno."

--

Toddler-aged Sakura Haruno uprooted a sun-colored flower from it's home in the earth. Today, she was dressed in a colorful spring-dress, a bit out-of-season actually, but still quite pretty, her hair long smooth hair braided into one piece that reached her knees; golden necklace still swinging righteously from her neck as it had for years. Shaking it free of the moist soil around the bottom, she added it to her collection of uncoordinated floral plants. So far she had one red spikey puff, a dark green bud, a musty brown color and an autumn leaf that had been crumpled and stepped on, by the green eyed girl herself. With this bouquet, she thought, she's definitely beat that Ino-pig-girl. She cheated anyways. Her mom was the lead royal florist.

She was posed to pluck a rather delightful looking dead specimen from the ground when a _Thwack!_ followed by a restrained strangled groan met her ears.

Even at three years old, Sakura was not ignorant to her surroundings. She recognized the sound as that of a leather whip smacking flesh. On her many travels to other lands she'd overseen many a time stubborn pack animals get beaten by their owners and had heard the animals alarmed shrieks. She cringed every time.

But this was different. The whip's sound was … sharper and the grunts that followed did not sound that animalistic, in fact they sounded almost…

Treading quite recklessly through the carefully cared for shrubbery, she tracked the noise until she reached a large green ledge. Here where the snaps were the loudest.

Using a swimming motion, Sakura created a head-sized peak hole in the overgrown bush.

She was certain her heart-skipped a beat.

On the soft dirt and grass padded surrounded courtyard, one of her subjects, a familiar samurai that could often seen wandering around the koi pond at night, with silvery white hair, patched eye, and a mask stood poised with a wood handled whip. Leather, as she expected.

But what caused her blood to run cold, was what the whip was aimed at.

It wasn't a donkey, oxen, horse, or any other four-legged animal that she had previously seen lashed upon. But a man… no, not a man. A boy. A little boy. From what she could see he had long dark ebony locks, longer than her own. His navy shirt was torn apart showing deep grotesque bleeding slash wounds, along with higher untouched and somewhat impressive shoulder muscles sprinkled with blood, from the angry soon-to-be scars that were being created on his back, and warm sticky sweat. His arms were held up and locked by metal handcuffs engraved into the brick wall his stomach lay flat against. Sakura's heart finally gave a sharp painful beat as she saw his legs dangling freely underneath his torso, he wasn't old or tall enough for his feet to reach the ankle cuffs underneath him.

Young Sakura watched as the samurai, her samurai, lifted the whip above his head once again and rammed down harshly on the boy's back. Shockingly, the boy didn't shriek or scream or sob as any other boy his age would've. A low grunt and acute hissing caused through his air being sucked in through teeth were the only signs of his agony as a new mark placed itself upon a still aching sore.

But Sakura didn't have to see it or hear it, she _felt_ it, as if it were her instead of him hanging there. The excruciating sting impaled her though no mark would ever develop on her body. She didn't know why, or how, she just _could_. And it hurt. It hurt _so_ much. Though, unlike the boy before her, she had no intention of keeping her suffering to herself. Her eyes clouded with liquid.

A sky-piercing scream was detected all through the five southern courtyards.

The effect was almost instantaneous.

Vaguely, she heard the empty sound of the wooden handle hitting the concrete floor accompanied by approaching footsteps but she was far too engaged in wailing to understand or care what the sounds meant until she felt a hand gently clap the top of her head. Her sobs died down enough to look up, tears still streaming down her face, at the mixed-emotional face of the samurai she thought of as an uncle.

"Kaka…-sen…pai!" Was all she managed to let out between weeps.

--

"Sakura-hime." He started off warmly once she had gotten her cries under control, yet at the same time sternly, "You need to go back to the castle." He lightly pushed her back towards the small opening she had come from.

The little girl didn't budge but continued to stare up at him, green eyes wide, owlish, and unblinking. She looked so innocent. He really hadn't wanted her to see this. But he had no choice; rules were rules. And he was under direct orders from the King, her father.

He straightened himself and hardened his voice as he was she wasn't moving, "Sakura that was an order."

He watched as the pink-haired child removed her gaze from him to the floor behind him, where the whip lay, to the boy in shackles and then back to him, over-sized eyes pleading and solemn. Her feet were stubbornly glued to the floor.

Kakashi frowned through his mask. The princess was a normally obedient child. As one of her personal guards he had the power to order the princess of the Leaf kingdom and if need be had the authority to use force to remove her from the premises, but rarely if ever had to use such methods. She _always_ listened to him.

To his disappointment, the small girl only fidgeted under his gaze, sandals not moving an inch.

He had to admit it, he had a soft spot for the pink heiress. Many a day had the young girl wandered into his quarters bored and looking for company other than that of the child of the Yamanaka maid-now-florist. Oddly enough, her presence never seemed to bother or annoy him. The royal-blooded girl would babble on and on about complete nonsense as he either read his beloved books while nodding nonchalantly or watched her prattle with an amused grin cleverly concealed behind his mask whiles his eyes held pretend interest (Interest that she would always seemed to figure out wasn't real and whine about loudly as he chuckled). Or if there were no new issues of Icha Icha out, she would be allowed to handle some of his less harmful weapons. But _only_ when he was able to give her his full attention. Kami knows what would the royal family would do to him if they were to discover something had happened to her. …Or what he would do to himself.

"Sakura-chan, this is the last time, I'm going to say this nicely. Go back to the castle." He announced his showing eye glaring to show his seriousness.

The gold-chain wearing girl merely bit the corner of her lip, and clenched her fists defiantly.

The silver-haired samurai took in a deep breath and let it out shaking his head. He really didn't want to do this but she left him no choice.

He walked back over to the middle of the courtyard, picked up the whip once more, and lifted his finger to his mouth preparing to whistle his dogs over, who would, upon being given orders, forcibly lift and transport the girl away from the area more than likely with her shrieking and flailing the entire way. Thus, extinguishing any type of trust the youthful girl had in him.

But just as his fingers had touched the mesh covered outside of his lips, the child had bewailed in such a _terrified_ and incriminating tone, that he was forced to snap his head back towards her. Sure enough, the princess was on the ground, once again with eyes puffed and pouring, arms cradled against herself in a defensive position.

Kakashi let out a low sigh letting his shoulders droop before leaning down to hoist the sniveling little girl over his shoulders.

Damn his soft spot.

--

He could currently be classified as harmless.

Normally he would've easily and honestly denied this. He was _never_ harmless. Not to say he was anything like those egotistical royal samurai. The ones that thought themselves the strongest and most agile in the country. He was just aware of where he stood in terms of strength.

_Royal samurai_… stuck-up pigs, almost worse than the royals themselves. He should know, the majority of them were members of his own clan. He, himself, had once considered joining their ranks but had underwent a change of judgment. They wouldn't have allowed him in, in anyway.

He was only eight. (Though he could easily pass for one in his early teens)

However, according to the latest popular statistics he had the wisdom and power to outclass those more than four times his own age.

Those were just statistics though.

The oldest samurai he had ever defeaten in battle was only 31.

Then again, they give anyone with a flimsy piece of metal the title samurai nowadays.

Accordant to others, he had been born talented. This was somewhat true, however that did not mean he did not have to go through dangerous, rigorous, and many times suicidal training programs to get to his current level of expertise.

But he was nowhere near perfect. He knew this. And only _because_ he knew this did he keep his eyes and ears open to new information; ready to gain more skill and knowledge whenever available. A maturity factor, many lacked at his age. In fact, he currently possessed a small rounded, and a tad bulky, stone concealed not-so-well in his back pocket. So far today, four men and one woman had tried (and failed) to pickpocket him for it, believing the hardened dirt was a roll of coins. This provided not only a sufficient training environment for increasing reflexes and awareness of surrounding but practice and experience for his own thieving benefits as well. He could count on one hand the number of times someone had actually gotten away with stealing from him; though all they got out of it was worth less than half a yen. The majority who did, impressed him, propelling him to choose to spend the rest of the day uncovering and dissecting their steal thing method. Sometimes, however, he himself would slip up and a rookie would swindle him due to his own recklessness. He referred to these days as "Bad days."

Today was a Bad day.

He took a moment to tug futilely, against prickly rope that bound both his feet and hands tightly and kept him in his seated position against the wall before relaxing once again.

He had made a folly and under-estimated that eye-patched samurai. A novice mistake. He wasn't like most of those other all-talk no-action royal guards that were commonly seen arrogantly patrolling the streets.

Given another chance, he was sure he'd enjoy going against the platinum-haired sword master; In a _real_ match .

_Clacksh! _

The very tips of his ears twitched, zoning in on the sound that was truthfully loud and near enough so that he needn't try to locate it. But, it was a natural instinct and he didn't feel the need to suppress it. In anyhow, there was only one other human being in the room.

Across the room, a small child kneeled to scoop up ragged shards of off-white creamy porcelain, noisily dumping the remains of the plate onto the short, table-clothed table she was previously seated at. Upon the table were six neat place settings, but only five dishes and an abnormality of seven glass cups. Seated in kindergarten sized plastic chairs were stuff animals, an overstuffed lion, one Arabian-style unicorn, two puppies a golden Labrador and spotted Dalmatian, and two almost identical teddy bears if not for the differences in amount of wear by time. Whereas one looked brand new, the other's coat was significantly duller and darker.

The girl was humming a high no-beat tune as she tided up the mess she made. That surprised him a little. He had not expected "Sakura-hime" to be even aquatinted with the notion of cleaning up after herself. Didn't the noble family have… maids, of some sort, to take care of that?

Speaking of royal servants… He eyed the multi-color-dressed girl sitting at the table, sipping a cup of invisible tea. Wasn't this girl supposed to have a nursemaid or something of the like? The toddler had been freely roaming the castle grounds alone when he first saw her, and the samurai guard that had piggy-backed her upon his shoulders into the main building (the hime laughing cheerfully the entire way, seeming to forget that moments before she was wailing like a banshee) was certainly not her true guardian; He had disappeared into a separate room moments after sitting the royal child down and getting her occupied.

The older looking teddy leaned over and began slumping down, only to be pulled back up by the girl seated next to it.

"No, bear-bear. You can't get on floor." she scolded the inanimate object, waving her finger as she did. "You'll get dirty and Gaa-chan will get sad."

He frowned from his wall. You'd think at least one person would be guarding the Queen to be. Especially when locked in a room with a known and dangerous rebel- Right. He was still "harmless". They had impounded his sword. His number one weapon; what was a samurai without his blade? Innocuous. Unless…

He did a quick double check of his available mobility. Just as he thought. They had underestimated him, just as he had underestimated them. But while his mistake was painful their's was both very unfortunate and very deadly. True, he wasn't able to free himself, but even in this position he could still perform a few _lethal_ attacks.

The oblivious girl swung her legs, so short that even her toes did not reach the floor, daintily back and forth below her while reaching an arm out to grasp a silver coated platter.

Luckily for her, he had no intention of harming a weak and defenseless child.

She uncovered the silver platter with more carefulness than she had paid any mind to anything before.

_That smell…_

She placed the metal top to the right of the plate, revealing to him. Real food? No. _Sweets._

His eyes glinted an eerie sparkled, eyeing the golden brown, dark-chocolate spotted cookies.

After he made it known that he wasn't planning on following their preset course to Royal Samurai swordsmanship they, his clan, had refused to feed, house, or even acknowledge him as one of their own. Most likely in hopes of forcing him to oblige to their plan.

Honestly, he didn't give a crap.

However, he hadn't stolen anything or gotten any jobs(and therefore eaten) in a number of days.

Consequently, he had no qualms with swiping this little girl's snack. Besides, she, like the other occupants of the castle, was not starving. Quite _unlike_ the poverty and famine-stricken peasants who resided outside of those grand double doors.

He was just nearing the end of a mental plan to get her close enough to him _with the food_ for him to snatch it, when his stomach decided to voice it's own opinion. One thing he wasn't able to control about his body.

The cacophonic sound of his stomach growling echoed against the stone walls of the enclosed space.

The small green-eyed girl looked up from her tea set, to him and down again before picking up a chocolate-spotted cookie. "Want cookie?" she asked timidly, holding the treat out towards him.

Hn… maybe this would be easier than he thoug-

"No! It mine!" she declared snottily before he could respond, snatching it back into her chest tightly, then twirling around so all he could see was the perfectly styled pink hair that ran down her back.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as she began nibbling on the no-doubt tasty chocolate-chip cookie.

'…And _this_ is why I hate kids.' Yet at the same time, he felt an oddly familiar feeling about the situation.

Finishing the plan he had started before in his head. He placed a falsely friendly expression on his face.

"Sakura-hime?" he asked in a polite tone.

The girl slowly lowered the cookie from her mouth slowly before giving the dark-haired boy a stone-cold and very untrusting glare. Why she was so automatically distrustful of him (though she _should_ be but those in her age group rarely were) he did not know.

"Would you, by any chance, be interested in a _trade_?" he asked in his best traveling salesman voice.

"…Of… what…?" she spoke quietly and slowly, eyes still narrowed at his form just waiting for him to jump out of his bindings and attack her. But her answer confirmed for him that she was indeed willing and curious, exactly as his plan needed her to be.

"Anything I own, in return for that platter of cookies."

The pink-haired girl's gaze flickered to and from the semi-pastries and him, contemplating her gains and losses. Which really wouldn't have been that hard, she could probably get more sweets anytime she wanted. Finally, shrugging, she plucked the silver platter off the table effortlessly and walked until she was a good seven feet away from him. "What I get?" she asked in proud broken English.

"As I said before, anything I own, but you need to untie my hands first so I can show you." _Take the bait. Take the bait._

But unfortunately for him, the girl placed the tray on the ground and put her hands on her hips. "No!"

Little brat. "But you won't be able to pick the item you want if I can't show you." he continued in the insincere trustworthy voice.

She simply glared harder. "Sakura no dummy! If I take off your ropes then you will run away or kidnap me or worse-" She gave him her darkest glare, that sadly had absolutely no effect on him, and pointed accusedly. "You'll _steal_ Sakura's cookies!"

"That _is_ a possibility now isn't it." he replied as if just considering the idea. "What if I promised on my own grave?"

"Uhh-uh!" she returned, wagging her finger at him just as she had before to the stuffed bear. "You gotta swear on your sword! That's the only way you can trust a samurai. That's what Kaka-senpai says!"

Curse that samurai.

"I swear by the blade of my sword and the techniques of the Uchiha clan that I, Itachi Uchiha, will not in anyway harm, mistreat, or disrespect Sakura Haruno of the Leaf Kingdom." he swallowed the urge to follow the line with a sardonic '_Happy?' _and thrust his bound wrists forward.

Don't get him wrong, he wasn't _going_ to steal from the girl before. Sure he had been planning on escaping, but he _was_ really going to give her anything he owned. He might be a Uchiha rebel that stole and fought for his physical needs but he kept his word, just as any other honorable samurai. It was just that the only thing he quote-unquote, owned, was his hair tie. Everything else was either stolen or belonged to the Uchiha clan, the clan he was no longer a part of. But now that he had just spoken the oath he was entitled to stay and would more than likely have to _really_ negotiate with the smarter-than-average little princess.

The child nodded cautiously, accepting his words and trotted back to the table to pick up one of the broken plate shards. Then prudently began a sawing motion near the center of the knot of ropes that constricted him. Smarter-than-average, indeed.

The cords fell to the floor in a disgruntled heap and he stretched his arms and arms, newly out of their uncomfortable position above his head, before rubbing at the irritating ring-like bruises that had formed around his wrists.

The pink-braided girl looked on warily, having taken a couple steps the moment she had cut through the last few strings as a precaution. "Now I get my thing?" she inquired a bit impatiently.

"Yeah, you can pick your item." He answered off-handly, peeking around the girl at the dish of heaven behind her and at the same time pulling everything he had out of his front pockets.

"Sakura wants sword!" she exclaimed, not one looking down at the items he hand emptied in front of him. Instead her eyes locked on the sheathed sword leaning against the doorway of the room the other samurai had entered a while ago. It's handle was tightly clasped by a heavy metal clamp so that it stood upright in position and could not be released with out the counterpart key.

"No." he said flatly.

"But you said Sakura could have _anything_!" the pink brat shrieked.

"I said anything I own. I don't own that sword." True. His sword was still _Uchiha clan_ property.

"Oh…" her pupils seemed to shrink back to their normal size, "So you're just borrowing it!" Or at least that's what he thought she meant. The borrowing really came out as more of a "bowwowing"

"…Sure."

Her eyes seemed to light up at verification. "Sakura's borrowing something too!" she sang joyously, skipping back to the tea table and running forward. "This is really Gaa-chan's but he let Sakura borrow it, so when Sakura visits the Sand kingdom again she won't forget about him!" she announced, holding up the "more-loved" teddy bear, two hands circld around it's waist.

He figured she must be speaking of Gaara of the Desert, currently third in line for the throne of Sand behind his older siblings Temari and Kankuro. Hn… She better keep that bear close. With the already rocky situation between the two kingdoms worsening he seriously doubted she'd be going back to Suna _anytime_ soon.

"What are those?" A high-pitched voice suddenly asked breaking him out of his thoughts. Short-attention span. He saw her index finger was pointing towards a well-used set of shuriken.

"Safety measures."

"Can I have 'em?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Just a _couple_!"

"… How many?…"

"TEN!"

"No."

"Five!"

"Hn."

"Two?"

"Nope."

"What? Only _one_?!" she huffed, crossing her arms angrily.

"Well, it's not like you _need _any, Sakura-_hime_." he replied, shooting her a look. "Besides, you'll probably just poke an eye out." he murmured more to himself than her. Quickly, he snatched one she had picked up out her hands. "You'll cut yourself holding it like that." he reprimanded before shoving it, and the rest of his ninja stars, into his pocket.

"Hey! You said Sakura could have that!"

"I changed my mind."

"_Ooohh! _What about these?!" _Really _short attention span.

"No those are…. Kami. I'm bargaining with a two-year old over a cookie." The samurai said aloud in a mystified tone smacking a hand over his eyes.

"Hey! Sakura's three 'n a half!" The princess cried indignantly.

"Right, right." he commented sarcastically as if it made a huge difference just to placate her.

"…what's that?" The young girl asked in so much of a softer voice than before, that, he was invoked to spot whatever it was she was indicating. It turned out to be the pale white fake-coin rock. It must've fallen out of his pocket at some point somewhere during his struggles.

"A stone I found near the quarry." he replied truthfully.

"Sakura wants it!"

"It's… a rock."

"Sakura wants it! Sakura wants it! _Sakura wants it!!!_" the cherry-tressed girl chanted in almost tantrum-form.

"Fine." Really, there was no skin off of his back. All he had to do was find another cylinder-shaped rock.

"Yea-!" she began to cheer, cupping the worthless stone.

"_**SAKURA HARUNO**_" Said girl cringed.

Ah, the royal babysitter.

A very nobly dressed old woman stormed into the room. Her hair was pinned up in two lopsided buns held together by what looked like a senbon. She stomped over to where the two were sitting/standing and yanked the smaller girl up by the forearm. Gripping tightly she pulled her unwillingly away from him, not though, before casting him a accusing dirty look. He glowered at her back.

"Sakura Haruno." her deep voice bellowed, once the two were at what she deemed far enough from him. "Would you _please_ explain to me, why when I leave the room for five seconds you decide it's okay just to wander off without permission or any guards?"

"But I asked-"

"You were given no permission, young lady."

"But Yamanaka-sa-"

"No talking back, insolent child. Or your punishment will be greater than what I've already chosen."

He was beginning to understand why Sakura "wandered" off.

As if hearing his thoughts, the old woman turned him sharply, eyes squinting at his seated form. "Is that boy…" she said quietly to herself, before turning rapidly on the heiress (causing her to jump in surprise and fear), "_Sakura Haruno_ did you release that prisoner from his binds?!"

The girl couldn't meet the older woman's gaze. "Well I-…"

The woman's face practically turned purple. "As the soon-to-be _Queen _this kingdom your behavior is _completely_ unacceptable!"

Sakura shivered throughout the woman's tirade, clutching Gaara's bear, which she still held in the hand not holding the stone, to her chest.

"And what's this filthy thing?!" The woman quirked an eyebrow after seizing the bear from the pink princess with ease.

"No give it back!" Sakura demanded with force he had not seen her send to the elder woman before.

"Ugh, this is that stuffed animal you picked up during our trip to that _horrible_ sand kingdom last autumn, isn't it? Your parents bought you another better-looking bear, did they not? So why in the world do you still have this ragged-looking thing." As she spoke she jiggled the bear around carelessly keeping it a full arms length away from her person, nose-scrunched up in disgust.

"Give it back! Give it back!" Sakura cried frantically, eyes already starting to tear up.

"So you seem to have some sort of emotional attachment to it, do you?" The woman asked in a twisted tone. He felt his eyes narrow at the elder. "Well, let's shoot two bird with one stone! Into the burner you shall go." she intoned lightly to the teddy bear swinging it back and forth.

Sakura was full out balling by this point.

He heard himself utter the words "I forced her." causing both the screaming/crying females to turn to him speechless. He didn't know exactly why he said it. Maybe it was because it reminded him of his own little brother and father's interactions. But somehow he knew that wasn't completely it…

"Pardon me." the old woman enunciated icily.

"I don't like repeating myself." He returned just as coldly.

The woman enraged, dropped the toy on the floor (Sakura darting to it the moment she released it from her grasp and squishing it securely against herself) and started walking slowly, heels clicking louder with every step towards him.

He watched her procession coolly, head resting on the wall behind him. He could not leave, because of his oath, but that did not mean he was to any extent fearful of this doyenne.

--

It was only after the samurai-boy was taken inside the same sound proof room as Kaka-senpai by her "nanny" did Sakura realize that he didn't get any of the cookies he traded the stone for. The stone itself was very pretty, much prettier than that sword with the red and white handle. She didn't see why he thought it was so worthless. Sure on the outside it looked a bit bland, but if you stared at it really hard there were other colors inside of it!

But anyways, the cookies seemed to have been discovered by an army of ants while at it's spot on the stone floor and was now pretty much unconsumable. As much as it pained her to admit, she'd have to give back the pretty stone when he came out. She owed it to him, not only because of the terms of the trade, but he had saved Bear-Bear from the evil witch's clutches!

She re-sat the teddy bear at the table and continued the tea party she had started several minutes before. But… every second that passed. The more she felt the dreaded ominous feeling build up inside of her. And soon instead of her eyes flickering to the doorway that held the three others every couple of minutes they homed on the door handle every other second.

At last, the door slowly creaked open to reveal the dark-haired boy.

"'tachi!" she called happily, bubbly skipping over to where he was walking… no… staggering.

The smile slipped right off her face as she saw him stumble drunkenly towards the wall to his right. Eyes widening, she rushed to him worriedly, pink braid flying behind her, ready to use her own body to stabilize his. Or at least she tried, as soon as she wrapped her arms around his side he let out a wild hiss and tore her away from his person.

At first Sakura was confused at his actions, but then felt something sticky dripping through her fingers. Her eyes dropped to her hand and she was horrified to find dark red liquid oozing through it.

Pale and unable to speak, Sakura's body moved on it's own around the more than-likely injured boy ignoring his warnings to cease.

His back… c-could that still be _called_ a back. It was more like blood and tissue with a few scar-like areas of skin. His long hair was embedded in the mess, the visible strands a gory red, dripping spots of blood onto the floor and the backs of his legs. It was not a sight Sakura could take in with out the sensing the urge to gag.

Her legs once again moved by themselves, and created a full circle around his body so she was now directly in front of him once again, but this time sobbing silently.

He could only grit his teeth. "I told you not to look, didn't I?" he mumbled grumpily. Straightening himself, which no doubt took a ton of effort and caused even more pain, he moved his gaze up from the floor to her. "What was it you wanted?" he asked casually, as if his back _wasn't _a gaping hole.

Somewhere, in the pit of her stomach, she _kne_w that she was in some amount at fault for this. This guilt mixed into her already intense sorrow to bring out another string of heavy sobs. "The ants… cookies… so you… stone back." Was all she was capable of getting out of her mouth while holding the rock out on her palm.

Fortunately for her, the boy was smart and glanced around the room getting the gist of situation and his eyes softened the tiniest bit.

"Hey." Sakura felt a finger prod her forehead. And she looked up through partially soaked bangs at the boy with diagonal lines underneath his eyes. Emerald met Checkered Scarlet.

The door to the sound-proof room opened once again this time, two figures exiting. Both of them searching for the girl and then once realizing where she stood shooting towards her.

"Keep it." he intoned emotionlessly pushing her hand back to her.

"B-but-" Sakura stuttered.

"Sakura Haruno, get away from him this instant!" Her nanny snipped aggravated, snatching her once again tugging the screeching child away by the arm.

A smug smirk that Sakura would not see formed on his face as walked through the double doors; no sword in sight. He was now, officially, free of his father's clan and her father's kingdom.

-------------------

"_THAT'S IT?!_"

Fifteen-year-old Sakura Haruno winced at her friend's loud tone. "Yes, Ino _that's it_! It was like fourteen pages! If you remember, we only had to write _five_."

The blue-eyed girl, shook her head, her high blonde ponytail following afterward. "I don't care about the stupid minimum. I'm talking about the story! You can't just end it there! You must continue the tale of the obviously hot boy… who sounds _a bit_ like a certain somebody we both know…"

"First of all, no that wasn't Sasuke." she rebuked, rolling her eyes when her platinum-blonde best friend pouted, mouthing an unheard 'Then who…?…'. Sakura then tapped her purple pen against her lips lightly, "And I wouldn't know what else to write. ...I need more inspiration…"

"It was very good, Sakura" Her bunned friend, Tenten, praised before admonishing. "Only two things: One. A girl of her nobility at that time and place with samurais would've probably worn a _kimono _not a sundress."

"Details, details."

"Second of all…" she abruptly slammed her fists down on the table, causing it to shake. "Why wasn't _I_ in the story! You guys always leave me out of the good stuff!"

"Hey! Hey! A lot of people weren't in this one, not just you, Ten!" she conciliated.

"Hmph." Tenten returned crossing her arms, sufficiently mollified but not willing to admit it.

"But, why did they beat him so harshly?" Hinata asked quietly from her seat to Sakura's right.

"For a lot of reasons, really," she began, drawing invisible circles on the desk with the opposite end of her pen, "Being a rebel and stealing for one, for threatening and pressuring the princess would have brought a rather hefty punishment, for abandoning his clan, exiling from the kingdom… and a couple of others as well."

Hinata nodded her head to show her comprehension.

"What about you, Temari? You've been awfully quiet." Ino asked leeringly.

The golden-blonde girl, had a weird look on her face that progressed into a wide smirk. Sakura didn't like it. "Don't worry Sakura-chan." she purred. "I'll go get _Gaa-chan_ for you right now. And you can give him _bear-bear_ back!"

The rest of the girls looked on confused but Sakura's retinas shrank. "You wouldn't… he doesn't know _I _know about his teddy bear! He'll kill me!"

"You bet he will!" the four-pony-tailed girl shouted elatedly. "And I'm sure he'll be most displeased when he hears that you're telling the _entire class_." she continued a wry smile taking its place on her lips.

Sakura stared her fellow teen down, lifting her body out of her seat. "Temari he'll murder me. Bring me to life, and murder me again."

"I know, isn't it great!" she yelled back, already running out the door and down the hallway towards the boy's dorms.

"Yeah, well, when you wake up tomorrow and find out I'm dead, you'll be _sorry_!"

She hollered towards her disappearing form.

"After I'm finished laughing my guts out maybe!" came the echoed reply.

"Don't worry, Sakura. We've got your back." Ino grinned to her then to Tenten who grinned back. Simultaneously the girls shot off after the oldest one, screaming her name out all the way.

Sakura took a deep breath, before collapsing back into her seat, praying that they really _would_ be able to catch her. She was too young to die.

"It's too bad that we can't _really _live in a fantasy world, ne Sakura-chan?" Hinata voiced, amused at her friend's actions, gathering up all of her text books.

Sakura let out a sigh before responding with a heartfelt "Yeah…"

The short-haired girl laughed with her white-eyed companion and smiled until the she heard the door to the classroom close with a click. After triple checking to make sure that no one else was left in the room she meticulously reached inside of her ruby shirt and pulled out a thin golden string upon which a ivory-white stone with a drilled hole hung. She twirled the gem between her digits.

"But maybe… it's not as fictional as you think."

---

Yeah, in this story, or.. Sakura's story to be more accurate, Itachi may seem to be a lot more talkative and sardonic, but I seriously _doubt_ that any eight-year old would be as quiet and brooding as Itachi Uchiha is as an adult, so instead you get this version!

This was really _really _long. So I'm expecting a multitude of reviews ppls! Don't let me down!


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